Fill the world with love

In just a little over six weeks, it will be Christmas, the season of gift giving, of carols and lanterns, and of merriment. But more than all these, it is the season of hope, for it is, most importantly, the observance of the waiting and eventually the birth of the Savior. All things considered, that birth made the greatest impact in the weary world of Israel, the impact of which affected and continues to ripple through to the ends of the earth, even to this day, so far removed from the time and place of its occurrence.

In our calendar, by which we mark the days and seasons, December also brings the close of another year, another cycle ending, another cycle beginning.

In the midst of the merriment and the hustle and bustle of the season, it would be good to find a time and place to quiet down in our hearts, to step back a bit as it were, for a moment of reflection, of encountering ourselves.

Many organizations would have completed their vision/mission sessions and strategic planning workshops by now. They would have established their key result areas, prepared a road map for the way forward, and approved the budget to support all their plans.

As individuals, however, we do not typically go through such a process, but perhaps we should. Perhaps one meaningful way of observing the season is for us to also go through a personal vision, mission, and planning process ourselves — to see beyond our regular routine and think through and envision the totality of what we can really aspire to be.

Blessed John Paul II guides us thus: “To be able to discover the actual will of the Lord in our lives always involves the following: a receptive listening to the word of God and the church, fervent and constant prayer, recourse to a wise and loving spiritual guide, and a faithful discernment of the gifts and talents given by God, as well as the diverse social and historical situations in which one lives…”

Being anchored on the Lord assures us that we are and will be guided in the right direction. This is important, for one of the saddest situations we can experience, especially in our professional work, is “climbing steadily up the corporate ladder, only to find out at the top that the ladder is leaning on the wrong wall.” Thus, we must continually check our bearings, and be guided by what is really important, recognize the essential from the superficial, recognize the grain beyond all the chaff.

If you have not done so, seek your personal life mission this season.

My own personal life mission is anchored on this verse, one of my many favorite verses because it expresses best what and how I would like my life to be — “To do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God” (Micah 6:8).

“To show constant love” — loving is what the Lord consistently says in the scriptures.

Indeed, love is what God is all about. Love is what God is. Love is the summary of all the commandments that Jesus shared with us. Love is what many authors have written about. Love is what many songs have expressed many times, many ways.

And speaking of songs, a particular song comes to mind: “Fill the World with Love,” composed by Leslie Bricusse and first introduced in the movie “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” in the 1960s. It speaks of filling the world with love from our youth (“the morning of my life”) to middle age (“the noontime of my life”) and to old age (“the evening of my life”). And it asks the questions: “Was I brave and strong and true? Did I fill the world with love my whole life through?”

Beyond being a beautiful song, its lyrics wonderfully express a most helpful guide to living a meaningful life — to fill the world with love my whole life through.

We know from experience, however, that actual living out of the mission to love is far from easy, is far from simple, especially when we measure it, as we should, based on the ideal of loving as Jesus loved.

The mission to love becomes even more challenging in an institutional setting. Many factors need to be considered — not the individual’s situation alone, but the interest of the institution as a whole. Can loving be compatible with organizational discipline, or with the need for corporate efficiency for instance? It is difficult enough to practice personal forgiveness, how much more collective forgiveness? Challenges such as these and many more may abound, but what we know is that God’s grace can lead us to the right answers in accordance with His will.

To fill the world with love is to practice kindness all around. This may be easy to understand and accept as a concept, but what specific steps should we really do? There are of course many ways. We do not need to look far. We start with our own family, relatives, and the community (both spiritual and territorial) that the Lord has brought us to. We should also start with what the Lord Jesus so clearly points to us to do. In Matthew 25: 31-46 particularly, Jesus asks to do the following, especially to the least of our brethren: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome strangers to our home, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, visit those in prison.

As we make filling the world with love our lifetime commitment, we need to keep in mind what Steve Sjogren shares in his book Conspiracy of Kindness: “It seems people don’t necessarily remember what they are told of God’s love, but they never forget what they have experienced of God’s love.”

“And so, especially as we approach Christmas, may we be alert on the possibilities to love and care — our families, friends, the poor and sick among us. As someone has also expressed, it is not so much our presents, but our presence that truly counts.